The Georgian Dream party secured all municipal and regional seats in the local elections, which were boycotted by the opposition. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze referred to the protest rallies that stormed the presidential palace in the capital as a "failed coup attempt."
In the local elections held in Georgia, the Georgian Dream party won all municipal and regional seats without conceding anything to the opposition, which organised protest demonstrations in the squares of major cities, The Caspian Post reports citing foreign media.
Voter turnout was just over 40%; only 81 international observers were accredited, almost all from ‘friendly’ countries, compared to 1,102 in the previous elections in 2021. The most symbolic victory was that of former footballer Kakha Kaladze, re-elected for the third time as mayor of the capital Tbilisi with 77.4% of the vote.
A total of 3,061 polling stations were open, of which 2,284 were equipped for electronic voting and 777 used the traditional method. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced victory even before the polls closed, declaring a percentage of over 70% across the board. After all, the ruling party was the only one to field candidates; the main opposition groups, the “Coalition for Change” and the “National Movement”, which had come second and third in the 2024 parliamentary elections, boycotted the vote, along with other smaller pro-Western forces.
Many opposition politicians spent election day watching everything from prison, starting with former President Mikhail Saakashvili and continuing with the many who had been arrested in recent months, such as Levan Khabeišvili, Eviad Kuprava, Elene Khoštarija, Georgij Vašadze, Nika Gvaramija, Nika Melija and many others, who were also behind bars during the vote on charges of “inciting subversion and coup d'état” for protest rallies. Kobakhidze stated that “the coup attempt has failed” and that all those involved in these actions will be punished “without exception, and those who took part should expect some surprises in the coming days”.
The prime minister blamed the ‘Western special services’ for the riots, also criticising anti-government politicians who condemned the attempt to occupy the presidential palace on 4 October, such as former president Salome Zurabišvili, stating that ‘they only did so after the attempt had failed’. In fact, the former president did not support the assault on the Orbeliani Palace in central Tbilisi, calling it ‘a provocation, it is not clear who organised it’, but that it was not in keeping with the spirit of ‘peaceful revolution’ that the opposition inspired on election day. Instead, it is necessary to ‘remain in the streets without taking reckless actions, which they cannot prohibit or repress’. She later wrote on X that ‘such a parody of the assault on the palace could only have been invented by the ruling regime to discredit the Georgian people's more than 300 days of peaceful protest’.
Some protesters did indeed break down the gate of Orbeliani Palace, entering the presidential estate, and special police forces responded with pepper spray, tear gas and water cannons after an initial assault that caught the security forces unprepared. Clashes between police and demonstrators continued for quite some time, with several injuries and many arrests, after some had erected barricades at the palace and then set them on fire. One of the main instigators of the assault, opera singer Paata Burčuladze, read a statement to the crowd gathered in Independence Square, calling for the overthrow of the “Russian regime of Ivanišvili”.
The statement asserts that power belongs to the Georgian people, that the “so-called state authorities” have lost all legitimacy and must simply step aside, and that a “peaceful transition period” must be established to restore democratic institutions and resume dialogue with the European Union. The representative of the National Movement, Murtaz Zodelaba, supported the proposal, stating that ‘a show of courage’ is needed to begin acting in this direction, and is now awaiting the outcome of the popular events while under arrest, along with the singer and many others.
